The Fifth Horseman
by fearXtheXstorm
Summary: After the Four Horsemen made it into the Eye, all charges against them were dropped "mysteriously" and they were allowed to continue their magician work together. They're allowed to continue their work under certain conditions. 1. Go exactly where they are told for their shows. 2. Don't surprise the Eye. Surprise the audience. 3. Take on a fifth member. But who is she?
1. Chapter 1

**After the Four Horsemen made it into the Eye, all charges against them were dropped "mysteriously" and they were allowed to continue their magician work together. They were only allowed to continue their work, of course, under certain conditions.**

**One: Go exactly where they are told for their shows. **

**Two: Don't surprise the Eye. Surprise the audience.**

**Three: Take on a fifth member, but still be the Four Horsemen.**

**This last condition didn't really make sense to them, but the 'Four Horsemen' sounded better than the 'Five Horsemen', and this new member they were to have was an amazing magician. She never shared her secrets with them, but she really was amazing.**

**Her name was Fayette Wills. **

Jack and Merritt grinned as they watched the two girls. Henley and Fayette, after Fayette joined the Four Horsemen, had made a tradition out of baking cookies on weekends they didn't have shows. It usually took most of the day, just because neither were that great of bakers, and Fayette always had interesting things to show Henley to cause distraction.

Currently, Fayette was using illusions to make fire appear in various places of the kitchen while waiting for the cookies to bake. Baking had taken a relatively short time today.

"Okay, I made fire appear somewhere in the room. Keep your eyes closed, and I'm going to mentally message you to let you know where it is. Please tell me where the fire is," Fayette paused, "Now." Henley hesitated before responding.

"Is it above the stove?" she asked. Fayette grinned.

"Yup," she said. Henley opened her eyes, and smiled.

"That's so cool. I thought I understood illusions, but I really don't. I feel like that would be something to include the audience with. We could ask as many people as we wanted, whoever. We wouldn't have to plan it." Henley said. Fayette shrugged.

"Faye, how do you do it?" Jack asked, walking around to sit on the bar stool on Fayette's other side, while Merritt sat on the bar stool on Henley's other side. Fayette sighed.

"I'm going to tell the Eye if you don't quit asking me that. I already told you, I never tell my secrets." Fayette said. Jack puffed out his bottom lip.

"Just one secret, please?" he asked. Jack was the other main illusionist and hands-on magician in the group, and the duo often collaborated on tricks. He was glad to have another magician like him, as the others often downgraded his magic some, and it irritated him to no end. With Fayette around, they didn't want to risk offending her.

Apparently, the Eye had gone searching very hard for her. She hadn't originally wanted to join. The Eye's only enforced rules about the conditions is that to keep Fayette as happy as possible. They didn't want to lose her. Fayette never really saw how her magic was worth keeping her such a priceless gem of the Eye, but if it gave her protection, she accepted. As a performing magician on her own in New Orleans, safety wasn't always a priority. With the Eye, she was always safe.

Or something like that, they really hadn't understood the Eye's explanation.

"Tell you what: if we actually do use the fire trick in a show, and the audience likes it, if it's good for the Four Horsemen, I'll explain how I do it." she said. Jack, Merritt, and Henley grinned.

"Hey, Danny, come 'ere!" Jack shouted. Fayette rolled her eyes, and stood up to take the cookies out of the oven. Danny walked into the kitchen as she slid the tray onto the counter.

"They're hot, watch yerselves." Fayette said, beginning to put the dirty baking dishes into the dishwasher.

"Danny," Jack said, "Faye says if the audience likes her fire trick, then she'll tell us how she does it."

"What's her fire trick?" Danny asked. Fayette grinned to herself.

"Danny, close your eyes. I'm going to put fire somewhere in the room, and mentally message you where it is. Then you have to tell me where the fire is." She said. Danny closed his eyes. A flame appeared right behind him.

"Okay, tell me where," Fayette said after a pause, "Now."

"It's behind me." Danny said. The others grinned as Danny opened his eyes.

"That's pretty amazing. What can you tell me about this fire, Fayette?" he asked.

"Well, I control pretty much everything about it. It's a bit of a mind-game sometimes. Merritt might get it if I explain it. Temperature can change, size, colour. If I want, it can crackle noisily, or it will silent as a Cherokee on the hunt." Fayette said. Danny nodded.

"I guess if you all want we can do it next show. We'll try it on as different people as we can manage to find." Danny said. They all grinned. Fayette slid back into her seat.

"I love illusions." She said, "And I love tricks that I can use my hands."

"Like pick-pocketing and picking locks?" Henley asked, and Fayette nodded.

"What does that have to do with the fire trick?" Jack asked. Fayette shook her head.

"Nothing." She said, "I just really like it." Jack grinned.

"Oh, cool, me too." He said. Fayette reached for a cookie, and then broke it in half. She set the other half back on the tray, shaking her head.

"I don't know why I eat these. They're really sweet; it makes me tired." She said, taking a bite. The others laughed.

Jack knocked on Fayette's bedroom door. At night, if the group didn't hang out as a whole, she usually stayed in her room, watching movies. Tonight was one of those nights. But Danny was requesting a quick meeting on how the next show will go. And since Jack is the ''kid'', he often had to fetch the others.

Which didn't quite make sense to Jack; he and Fayette were the same age, and Danny could just yell to get the others. Danny loves yelling.

"Hey, Faye, Danny wants a meeting real quick." He called through the door.

"Jack, hey, could you come help me?" Fayette called back. Jack opened the door, and walked in.

"I got my hand stuck between the bars out here." Jack walked onto Fayette's balcony. Each of the Four Horsemen had a balcony in the house, and they were often used.

"How'd you manage that?" Jack asked, going to help her. She shook her head.

"I don't know. And I can't magic myself out." Fayette said, feeling defeated. Jack carefully unstuck her hand, then smiled at her.

"There you go. And don't worry, I won't tell the others." He said. She smiled back.

"Thank you." She said, "It's frustrating, because I can do really complex tricks, and then I get myself stuck somehow, and I can't unstuck myself. I don't get it. It's like I can't do magic on myself; even the simplest things." Jack shrugged.

"It's okay. I don't think the others can either. Maybe Henley, because that is her magic. I only can because that's how I got out of scrapes in Brooklyn."

"Well I could do it before I joined the Eye. How do you think the New Orleans criminals never caught me? They're everywhere down there, and the police can't catch all of them. So I had to look out for myself. I was pretty good until the Eye started interfering." She said. Jack grinned.

"Well now you have me, so it's all good." He said. She laughed, agreeing sort of, and followed him out of the room and into the den. The others were waiting.

"Oh good, you two finally showed up," Danny said, "Next time, Jack, if you want to get her alone, don't use me as an excuse. The shows are always a little more important than relationships." Jack looked up at Danny, surprised, as did Fayette.

"What?" they asked simultaneously. Danny rolled his eyes, and Merritt and Henley exchanged grins.

"Never mind. Okay, so this is the run-through. It's tomorrow night, at the Kentucky YUM center. The Eye says we have a full house, so it'll be the perfect place to try Fayette's fire trick. Any particular way we should pick the audience?" Danny asked. Fayette nodded.

"They numbers on their tickets. We don't have interference with that, so no one could call it fraud. We can have one of the ticket-masters tell us what the number range is. Then we could each pick a random number. We'll do it five different times." She said. The others nodded.

"Not bad, we'll do that," Danny said. Fayette rolled her eyes. After another thirty minutes of discussion, Danny called the ''quick'' meeting to an end.

"Now go to bed. We have rehearsals tomorrow morning at nine." He said, standing up from his chair, and heading down the hall to his room. Henley and Merritt exchanged good-nights with each other and Jack and Fayette, then also disappeared down the hall. Fayette stayed in her chair, lazily drawing smoke trails in the air with her finger. Jack was watching her, thinking hard.

"Faye, what do you think Danny meant?" Jack asked.

"When?"

"When we first walked in."

"Oh. I dunno. If it matters that much, you could go ask him. He loves explaining stuff to you and I because he's older and therefore thinks he's wiser. You'd have no problem getting an answer from him."

"Aren't you curious about what he said, though?"

"I dunno. I mean, it was a little surprising, but we are magicians. We're supposed to have trucks up our sleeves, and expect the unexpected. That's how magic works. Anyways, if I asked, Danny would just stall. He'd beat around the bush for a few minutes, then give me an indirect answer, and disappear. As much as his ego loves bossing us, Danny really doesn't like the idea of somehow upsetting me. It's like he knows that there are things he could say to make me mad."

"Danny would get in trouble with the Eye if he made you mad, so he has reason."

"Well, yeah, but he has all the wrong ideas of what would make me mad. He dances around me, it seems, to keep his tail in one piece. I'd rather have a direct answer, and be a little upset than an indirect answer and getting frustrated."

"Well, I'll talk to him, and let you know. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great. Can I just sleep out here? My chair is pretty comfortable. Danny's meetings always make me sleepier than they should, and walking back to my room just seems like a lot of work right now."

"You'll mess up your back sleeping in a chair, no matter how comfortable. Surely your chair isn't as comfortable as your bed anyways?" Jack asked her, grinning. Fayette shrugged.

"Well, no, but it's still a comfortable chair. I could sleep here quite nicely. One night would not kill me." She said. Jack shook his head.

"I could carry you to your room, you know." He offered. She shrugged.

"You don't have to, though. And I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Still. I'll carry you back to your room. I can do that." He said. Before she could respond -because he knew he was fighting a bit of a losing battle- he picked her up. He swiftly walked back to her room, and dropped her gently on her bed.

"There, now you can sleep, and I won't have to worry about you." Jack said. Fayette half-smiled, unable to fake annoyance.

"You're mental." She said, throwing a pillow at him. He laughed, and threw it back.

"Can I have a hug?" he asked, and she nodded. He gave her a quick hug, which she returned, before she crawled up to her favourite spot of the bed. After she tugged her blanket around her, she snapped her fingers, and the lights went out. Jack laughed.

"That's still so cool." he said, closing the door behind him as he left the room. Fayette smiled to herself as she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Fayette and the others pretty much slept through rehearsals. They all knew their magic like the back of their hands; there was much to rehearse. So by one, they were finished, and there was five hours before the show.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Danny asked after they all flopped lazily into their respective chairs in the den, "We've got some time to kill."

"We could watch a movie." Fayette said absentmindedly.

"Is that your go to suggestion for everything, Fayette?" Danny asked. She shrugged, scrolling through the twitter feed on her phone.

"Would you rather I said we could make a movie?" she asked. Danny shook his head.

"No, please don't. Okay, any other suggestions?" Danny said.

"There's a mall nearby. We could go shopping. We did get paycheck from the last show yesterday, and since the Eye takes care of most bills, what else could we do with money but shop?" Henley said. Danny was about to immediately disagree, when Merritt nodded.

"That's not a bad idea. Shopping doesn't sound too bad, and we could split up to save time. As long as Fayette and Henley aren't together we'll be okay." Merritt said.

Simultaneously, Henley and Fayette said sarcastically, "Ha-ha." The guys laughed.

"Okay, shopping it is. Anyone oppose?" Danny asked. No one said anything, so they all stood up. As they walked out to the driveway to Fayette's truck, they tried to decide how to split up.

"Well," Danny said, "we know Fayette will go to FYE and GameStop, then Rue21 and Forever21. And Henley will go in just about every clothing store. Does anyone want to be alone?" They all shook their heads. Alone wasn't something the Eye really encouraged, and if possible, they were to stay together. Danny nodded.

"It comes down to whether you want to look at just clothes, or maybe a little bit of clothes, and a lot of movies." Danny said, talking to Merritt and Jack. They all knew that he would stay with Henley. Both Jack and Merritt shrugged.

"I really don't care." Merritt said. Jack nodded his agreeance. Danny sighed.

"You two are indecisive little buggers. Fine, Jack you go with Fayette and Merritt can stay with Henley and me. Say, let's meet at four-thirty at the fountain in front of the Disney store?" Danny said. They all nodded. By this time, they had gotten to the mall, and were getting out of Fayette's truck. Once inside the mall, they split off.

Jack and Fayette had the farthest to go, as FYE and GameStop were across the mall from the main entrance, and so they kept at a certain pace, chatting as they walked.

"So did you ever find out what Danny meant last night before the meeting?" Fayette asked as they entered FYE. Jack shook his head.

"He was half-asleep when I went to talk to him about it. There wasn't much progress."

"Right. What movie do I want? Do I want a movie?"

"You've got the biggest movie collection I've ever seen, Faye."

"I'd hope so; I've only been working on it forever."

"So I've heard. You started back in the-what, seventh grade?"

"My dad had one going before then, I just took it over in the seventh grade."

"Right, okay." Jack said. Fayette smiled.

"I think I'm gonna get these two." She said, picking up two movies. Jack nodded, then picked up another movie.

"I used to watch this one all the time when I was younger."

"Really? I've never seen it."

"Well then, I should get it, so we can watch it together."

"You do that. I'll get these two." Fayette said, walking over to the counter. She paid for her movies, then Jack got his, and then they left the FYE, and crossed the hall to GameStop. They didn't stay in long. It was rather crowded for a GameStop, and Fayette just didn't feel like looking at games with so many people around.

So Jack and Fayette left the GameStop, and started just walking around the mall.

"Any particular store you want to go in, Faye?" Jack asked her. She shook her head.

"Not really. Just FYE. Any particular store you want to go in, Jack?" Fayette asked, looking at him as they walked. He shook his head as well.

"Not really me either. Did you want to go into Forever 21 or Rue 21?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, Danny was just listing places I've shopped in before. I don't want to go into any clothes stores right now."

"Faye, are you alright?" Jack asked her after a few moments of silence. She nodded.

"Yes. Jack, are you alright?" she asked. Jack grinned.

"You do that a lot." He said.

"Do what?"

"Re-ask the question I asked you if I said your name, the exact same way. Except my name instead of yours."

"And it's funny?"

"I dunno, Faye."

"You laughed."

"I did."

"Does it annoy you? Would you appreciate it if I didn't do that?"

"No, it's fine, it's just that you always do it. You've never missed it. And it's specific, too. If I don't say your name, you don't re-ask me the question. If I say your name, you do, replacing your name with my name."

"What are you talking about? You call me Faye. That's not my name."

"It's your nickname."

"You're the only one who uses it."

"Does it bug you?"

"No, it's fine. I like it, actually. It sounds better, though, when you say it. I think Merritt and Henley called me that a little at first, but didn't like the way it sounded. Even when I say ''Faye'' it sounds weird."

"Still, though, you replace ''Faye'' with ''Jack'' and re-ask the question."

"I hadn't even noticed I did it."

"That's okay. Say, what time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch."

"I do have a watch, Faye, you've seen it."

"Then why are you asking me what time it is?"

"Good question. I have no idea. It is," Jack checked his watch, "seven minutes to two." He said, then looked at Fayette. She thought for a moment.

"Four hours and seven minutes, then, before the show; two hours and thirty-seven minutes until we meet the others at the fountain in front of the Disney store." Fayette said, "What do you want to do?" Jack shrugged.

"I don't really care to do anything. We could just get a coffee at Starbucks, and wait for the others." Jack suggested, "We could text them to say we're done and waiting for them. They might hurry." Fayette nodded, and the duo changed course to head to the Starbucks by the Disney store.

Once there, Jack pulled a chair for Fayette at one of the little café tables, and she sat. Then he went to order. The Four Horsemen often had coffee, and so they all had memorized each other's favourite drinks from Starbucks. Jack had no problem ordering, and returned to the table after a minute. He set down one of the coffees in front of Fayette. She smiled.

"Thank you," she said, and he nodded, sitting down.

"Really, though, are you alright?" Jack asked. Fayette gave him a curious look, and nodded slowly.

"Yes, really, though, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You don't, if truth be told, sound yourself today, is all. I was wondering if something was bothering you or if you're feeling ill?"

"I'm okay. I didn't sleep that great last night, but I'm okay."

"Why didn't you sleep that great?"

"Had some bad nightmares is all. I've been having them for awhile, but it makes sleep difficult. I'm just a little tired, I suppose, if I don't sound myself."

"I thought you could lucid dream?"

"I can. Lucid _dream_, not lucid nightmare."

"Is there a difference?"

"I dunno, but it's always been more difficult to control a nightmare as opposed to a regular dream. Everyone I've talked to who can lucid dream agrees."

"Do you want to go back to the house and sleep some before we need to get ready for the show? We could drive back, and I could come and pick the others up when they're done here." Jack offered. Fayette hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Jack smiled.

The duo finished their coffees, then stood up. As they left the mall and headed towards Fayette's truck, Jack texted Merritt. Merritt responded promptly, saying he would relay the message to Danny, and that one of them would call Jack when they were done at the mall. Once at Fayette's truck, Fayette headed towards the driver's side, when Jack grabbed her arm.

"Hey, do you- do you want me to drive?" Jack asked. His brown eyes looked straight at her storm eyes. He knew that if he wasn't paying attention, she'd just shake her head. But he could tell now, she really was tired. He hated saying it, but she looked exhausted. Fayette looked at him for a moment, slightly confused, it seemed, before she nodded.

"Yeah, you do that. You can drive." She said. Jack smiled. She handed him the keys, and then went around to the passenger side. He got in, and started up the truck. Traffic was pretty bad, and so it took thirty minutes to get back to the house. On the way, Jack had little concentration to put at anything other than driving, but he would occasionally glance at Fayette.

Almost as soon as they had left the mall parking lot, she had fallen asleep. Jack grinned to himself as he parked in the driveway of the house. Once he turned off the truck, he grabbed the two movie bags, and then walked around to the passenger side.

Fayette was a light sleeper, he knew, so he had to be quick. He carefully unbuckled her, and hit the lock button, then picked her up, and shut the truck door. He was getting to the front porch when she woke up.

"Jack?" she asked sleepily.

"Hey, I'm just gonna carry you to your bed. I'll wake you up when the others come back. Is that alright, Faye?" he asked. Jack knew she wanted to fight, but he shook his head as he managed to open the door and go inside. He carried her to her room, and set her gently on her bed.

"Go back to sleep, Faye," Jack said quietly to her, pulling the blanket up over her. She nodded, and quickly fell back asleep. Jack waited for a moment, smiling to himself before leaving her room.

The others didn't see what he saw. They saw her as a friend, a wonderful magician, a very important member of the Eye.

Jack didn't see her like that. To him, Fayette was Faye, his best friend, and absolutely adorable.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thanks, Jack. Now, everyone go get ready for the show." Danny said, "Jack, go wake up Fayette." Jack nodded, and walked from the door, stepping over Henley's various shopping bags. Once at Fayette's room, he knocked.

"Faye, wake up, it's time to start getting ready." He called through the door. No response.

"Faye?" he asked. He waited a moment out of politeness, then cracked open the door.

"I'm already up, Jack, its fine." Fayette said, opening the door the rest of the way. She was standing in front of her mirror. She was completely ready for the show already. Jack crossed the room to stand beside her at the mirror, and looked at her. He, for some reason, had always liked the way Fayette had looked in the Four Horsemen. She seemed to fit in perfectly, both magic-wise and appearance-wise. It took a moment for Fayette to realize what he was doing: staring.

"Yes, Jack, do you need something?" she asked. He looked away, shaking his head.

"No, no, I'm alright. I'll just leave you to it, then." He said. Fayette nodded, and he left the room. He felt as though Fayette was watching him. He glanced over his shoulder, and she was, though it seemed as if by accident.

It only took Jack about twenty minutes to be ready for the show as well. Really, Danny and Henley were the only ones to need the hour and ten minutes they gave themselves. It would take less than twenty minutes to get to the showplace, and set up everything. He walked to the den, feeling bored. Fayette was sitting in her chair, doing something on the Xbox. He walked around to see.

"Whatcha doing?" Jack asked. Fayette shrugged.

"I can watch part of a movie before we leave, and just finish when we get back." She said. Jack nodded, though she hadn't seen the movement.

"What are you gonna watch?" Jack asked.

"Fellowship of the Ring." She responded. After she hit play, she lay back, curling into her chair. Jack stood for a few minutes, watching the movie with her. Once she realized that he was still there, she turned to him.

"You just gonna stand there?" she asked. Jack shook his head, and sat in his chair, drawn as always to the movie. Merritt also joined the movie watching when he was ready. Henley was ready before Danny was this time, and she watched a few minutes before deciding to scroll lazily on her phone.

Upon being ready, Danny walked into the den. He'd called to the others from the door, but he had gotten no response. Save Henley, they were all intrigued by the movie. Henley just wasn't paying attention to anything. Danny took one look at the movie, and huffed. He walked up to the chair Fayette was in, and grabbed the Xbox controller. He paused the movie at a very dramatic scene.

"Hey!" Fayette cried. She turned around.

"What?" she asked. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Well, uh, I dunno, it's time to go to the show. I called for you guys at the door." Danny said, frustrated.

"Why are you getting so angry?" Merritt asked. Though Danny often was mad at Fayette, he never showed it, always very scared of the Eye. Danny gave him a hard look.

"Because we can't just be late to the show." Danny said. Jack glanced at his watch as he stood up.

"Danny, relax, we'll still have time when we get there and set up." Jack said. Danny shook his head.

"We'll be rushed. And this isn't the first time it's happened." Danny said.

"Why is it showing that it's bothering you now when we know it's bothered you before?" Fayette asked.

"Because this is an important show." Danny said shortly.

"I thought all shows were important." Fayette responded. Danny nodded.

"They are. But this one is very important. We're trying all new tricks. Now, let's go." Danny said. Merritt, Jack, and Henley all immediately stood up, and filed towards the door. Fayette went to follow, but Danny grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.

"Fayette, me and you aren't going to get along if you don't stop with your movie stuff."

"I've been with you guys for almost a year. I don't see why it's becoming a problem now."

"It was a problem long before now, I was just trying not to get mad."

"Because you're scared of the Eye."

"Because I'm scared of the power the Eye has. They could probably put me in jail for life."

"For what? Hating movies?"

"For getting mad at you. If the Eye catches word that you aren't a little Goldilocks here, I'm gone."

"Where are they gonna hear it from?"

"You."

"Why would I talk to the Eye? I literally cannot stand them. I was forced to join. Now you can stop dancing around me, I don't care. Hate me if you want."

"I don't want to hate you. What I want is for you to stop pretending the Eye doesn't watch your every step." Danny said. Fayette looked at him, surprised.

"What?" she asked. Danny nodded.

"You don't know? They didn't tell you? You're under surveillance, Fayette. Why do you think you can't work magic on yourself?"

"How do you know about that?"

"The Eye explained a few things to me before you joined. You'd be under strict surveillance, and never once could you do magic on yourself. They'd interfere so you couldn't. They don't want you to run off; they don't want you to leave."

"Then you'll have to help me."

"What?"

"I'll explain later, we have a show to get to." She said, turning around, and running to the door. Danny followed her. The others were waiting at the truck.

"Thought you'd forgotten there was show, Danny." Merritt said. Danny shook his head as Fayette quickly started up the truck. It took all of six minutes for her to get them to the YUM center. If she wasn't so talented in magic, they probably would've kept Fayette around for her driving skills.

They quickly got inside, and set up the remaining things to set up. They were ready.

It had all happened too fast. They'd been doing some trick that Danny had set up when the lights in the entire center went out. And since the Four Horsemen had used darkness in before tricks, no one panicked. Not a single scream of terror rang out. A few gasps of or interest, but no one was worried.

Until there was a thud from the stage. Almost immediately afterwards, the lights came back on. Jack was laying the floor, looking a little dazed and very much confused. Danny, Fayette, Merritt, and Henley all covered their mics.

"Jack, what happened?" Danny asked as he and Merritt and Henley walked over to Jack. Fayette ran over, and kneeled beside him. Jack sat up, shaking his head. His lip was busted, and bleeding.

"Somebody hit me, took my mic." Was all he got to say before there was an over-powering voice.

"Back up! Back away from Jack!" said the voice. Danny, Henley, and Merritt each took a step back, looking around for the source of the voice instinctively. Fayette stayed where she was.

"Now, Fayette, you leave Jack alone. You back up away from him." Everyone looked around, surprised. Fayette looked at Jack.

"Fayette, I said back up. You back up or I'll shoot you." The voice said again. The audience gasped. Fayette shook her head, and spoke into her mic.

"Well, Mister Voice, I don't think I appreciate you taking Jack's mic, and hitting him. Now that there ain't polite." Fayette said. Jack grinned. Fayette was pretty sophisticated, save her talk when she was miffed. You got her mad, she sounded country as the _Dukes of Hazzard_.

"I don't do a deal, Fayette. Back up, now, Fayette, I'm not kidding." The voice said. Danny reached forward to take Fayette's arm, and pull her back. He realized the voice wasn't kidding, and as much as he and Fayette didn't get along, he didn't want her to get shot at. Fayette shook her head.

"Mister Voice, this ain't far to the audience. They didn't pay to see someone get shot. Why don't you wait until our show is over, then you can get your tail whooped when I beat you senseless." Fayette said. A bit of laughter from the audience; this was starting to seem like a show. Danny, Merritt, and Henley had to hide their grins. Fayette was really fun to listen to when she was miffed. Jack shook his head.

"Faye-" he started, trying to push her back and get to his feet at the same time when there was a gunshot. The audience gasped again.

Fayette fell back onto the stage, the sheer force of the bullet hitting her knocking her over. Jack turned immediately to her. She'd hit her head on the stage floor, and she looked as dazed as Jack had been. Her right shoulder was bleeding. The bullet hadn't actually gone through into her skin, but it had still hurt her. Danny turned to the crowd.

"Please, ladies and gentlemen, keep calm. We won't lie; this isn't part of our tricks. But do not panic. Officials will be in momentarily to help escort everyone outside the building. We will continue our show as soon as we can. Be sure not to actually leave. We'll find a way to get contact information to all of you. Now, Mister Voice, I speak to you. We don't know what you want, but you did just hurt one of us. You won't get away."

"Won't I?"


	4. Chapter 4

Officials were starting to help get the audience out. At the door, everyone was being carefully looked over to make sure they didn't have a gun or a mic. Contact information -phone numbers and the like- was being collected as well. It really should've been a very slow process, but it wasn't. It was going quite speedy.

An ambulance was also there already, and paramedics had already taken Fayette out to it. The Four Horsemen had followed out to it, and were waiting for it to leave.

"Will we all be allowed to ride in the ambulance?" Henley asked. Danny shook his head.

"Of course not. Jack will go." Danny said. Jack looked at him. Jack wasn't sure if he could stand seeing Fayette hurt so bad. He wanted to be there for her, of course, but he just wasn't sure.

"Why me?" he asked. Danny shook his head.

"Because you're going to mean the most to her right now. It won't matter much if we're there, we're just her close friends. You're her best friend, or close to it. Now, we'll take her truck and meet you guys at the hospital." Danny said, and held his hand out. Jack dug in the front pocket of Fayette's rucksack -her equivalent of a purse that she kept pretty much everything in when going places- and took out the keys to her truck. He put them in Danny's hand, then turned when a paramedic put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are any of you four coming with us?" the paramedic asked, and Danny nodded.

"Jack is. We'll meet you at the hospital." Danny said. The paramedic nodded, and Jack got into the ambulance with him, and the doors were shut. Danny, Merritt, and Henley waited until the ambulance had left the parking lot before running over to Fayette's truck.

For Jack, it all went in a whirlwind. He guessed for Fayette, it just kind of happened. She wasn't ever much for pain; it never really seemed to affect her. Anyways, she looked out of it. Jack wasn't sure what the paramedics had given her, or what for, but it put her unconscious, he thought. So what did it matter? She wasn't hurting right now at least.

Upon arrival at the hospital, Jack had followed the paramedics into one of the rooms, then stayed out of the way as whoever had to work worked on whatever they had to work on. It was a good thing Jack hadn't wished to be a doctor; he was starting to get a headache from just watching everyone. After about twenty minutes, a doctor walked up to the bench Jack was sitting on outside Fayette's room.

"You're Jack, aren't you?" the doctor asked, and Jack nodded.

"I'm Dr Roberts. You can come in and see Fayette. She's awake." The doctor said. Jack nodded, and walked into the room. The doctor hadn't followed him, but went off do whatever else doctors did. Jack went and sat in the chair beside the bed. Fayette was sitting up, and she looked at him.

"How're you doing, Faye?" Jack asked. Fayette shrugged.

"Sleepy. Dunno what they gave me for my arm, but it made me sleepy." Fayette said. Jack grinned.

"Everything a doctor gives you makes you sleepy, Faye." He said. She laughed.

"Well, at least my arm don't hurt."

"At least your arm don't hurt, exactly. The others should be here soon, they took your truck and traffic was probably bad getting out."

"Do we know who shot at me?"

"No, but the officials are all taking care of it. They're checking everyone out who leaves. They'll find him, don't worry."

"Why do you think he hit you then shot at me? What's he got against the Four Horsemen?"

"Dunno. Could be anything, really."

"Guess so. I really wish he'd waited to be mad at us until later. We still had half a show to go through."

"We're gonna re-do it on another date as soon as possible. The officials are getting contact information from everyone who leaves, and we'll let them know when we're re-doing the show. I don't think we'll charge them anything, since technically, they already have the tickets. If they come a long way to get here, maybe we could help them get back if they'd like. You know how Danny is. And the Eye won't care; they'd probably encourage it." Jack said. Fayette nodded, then paused before talking.

"I hate the Eye." Fayette said. Jack looked at her with a curious look.

"That was out of nowhere. Why do you hate the Eye?"

"Apparently they've had me under surveillance since I joined the Four Horsemen, and they're the reason I can't do magic on myself. They told Danny when I joined, and he told me earlier today. It makes me mad. They can surveillance me all they want, but they didn't tell me. That's mean. And they stopped my magic. Never -ever- stop my magic. It's mine for a reason. If they want me to stay, ask me to stay. I won't leave unless they do something I can't stand. Something like that." Fayette said, huffing to punctuate herself.

"You're not leaving, are you, Faye?" Jack asked, his voice sad. Fayette looked at him, but didn't respond.

"You're gonna leave the Four Horsemen, Faye." Jack said. This time it wasn't a question. Fayette shook her head quickly, but he gave her a look, and she nodded.

"I've been thinking about it for a while. Originally, I was going to right after this show. It might take a little longer now."

"What made you want to leave in the first place? Did you not like us?"

"What? No, of course I like you guys. I don't know what I would have done without you guys the past year. But I'm tired of the Eye. I'm not kidding when I say that I was literally forced into the Eye."

"How'd they force you?"

"I'd been doing a few street shows in Lafayette, and some guys got mad. I think they'd been trying to do shows like mine for a long time, and never got as much hype as I did. They started a fight with me. I got them pretty beat, you know, as beat as I could get three somebodys in a fight. The police were starting to step in when one of the guys hit me in the stomach. I was knocked back into a tree, out cold."

"What happened?"

"Police had me taken to the hospital. When I woke up, Rhodes was there, pretending to be a cousin of mine. The doctors believed him, and he brought me home with him. He told me about the Eye, and recommended I join. I didn't want to, but he said that in the Eye, I'd never have to worry about anyone trying to hurt me again. They'd do the protecting and stuff, help me find places to stay and I'd be all taken care of."

"And you accepted?"

"Not at first. When I told him thanks, but no, he got mad. Threatened me a few times. Still didn't work. Then he promised me that if I joined, he'd find me a group of magicians like me to perform with sometimes."

"Why did he promise that?"

"Because when I performed by myself all the time, it wasn't quite as fun. I'd performed with a few other people before and enjoyed it. But what really stopped me was that he said magicians like me. Street magic, he called it. You know, the pick-pocketing and picking locks and duplicating and stuff like that."

"Just like me."

"Yes, just like you, Jack. I agreed. Then once I joined the Eye, I learned some illusion work, and some mind-games that were easy. Never that great at card tricks, of course, but I could still do'em. Then Rhodes found you guys, the Four Horsemen. He said that I would be joining you. At first, I was iffy. I didn't know you guys, I knew of you. You'd caused a lot of trouble."

"Why were you iffy?"

"I guess I was a little afraid. You guys were known real well. I was known in a few places in eight different states, but mostly just in Louisiana. And I didn't think our tricks would ever fit well together."

"Well it did."

"Guess so."

"So why do you still want to leave?"

"I just don't fit well in the Four Horsemen. Even the name says I don't belong."

"You fit just perfectly in with us. Everyone loves you as a part of the Four Horsemen."

"That's not exactly the point anymore. Earlier today, it was. But it isn't now."

"What's the point?"

"The Eye failed me."

"Now how'd the Eye do that? You're not performing alone, and you aren't just barely scraping by. You're doing quite fine, actually."

"No, they said they'd keep me from getting hurt. I was just shot, Jack. I'd rather get in a few fights a month with some numbskulls than get shot at."

"Does your arm hurt, Faye? Do I need to go find a doctor?" Jack asked, standing up. Fayette shook her head, and grabbed his arm with her good one.

"No, I'm fine."

"Please don't leave us, Faye." Jack said. Fayette didn't respond.

"Faye, how are you gonna leave? The Eye won't just let you walk out, even if we Four Horsemen did." Jack said. Fayette shrugged.

"I was gonna make Danny help me."

"Danny wouldn't help you, Faye. That'd make the Eye upset, and he's afraid of the Eye."

"I know. But I bet if I asked him nicely he'd help me. I'm pretty sure Danny doesn't like me too much."

"Of course Danny likes you. Maybe not as much as Henley or Merritt or me, but he likes you well enough."

"Then I'd leave on my own, if Danny wouldn't help me."

"How? And why wouldn't you ask Henley or Merritt? Or why wouldn't you ask me, Faye? Why ask Danny?" Jack asked. Fayette looked at him, a bit of a sad look in her eyes.

"Because you wouldn't let me leave, that's why, Jack." Fayette said. Before Jack could respond, he got a text. Jack quickly read it, then sighed.

"It's Danny. He says he's out in the waiting room. Wants me to go meet him; apparently he needs to talk to me for a moment. Him and Merritt and Henley." Jack said. Fayette nodded.

"Well, don't make him mad. I'll be okay for a little while." She said. Jack nodded, and he gave her a quick -though gentle- hug, then left the room.


End file.
